Will there be an upgrade option from Vista x64 to Windows 7?

[AdamK47]

There doesn't seem to be a huge difference between Vista 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit (especially if Microsoft considered the name Vista SE early on). The differences between Windows XP 32-bit and Vista 64-bit were so great that it made it impossible to do a real upgrade. This resulted in having to reinstall everything again. It would be hard reinstalling everything I have installed in Vista in order to upgrade to Windows 7. Will there be an upgrade option for Windows 7 or is that still an unknown at this point? I wouldn't be against having to reinstall everything if it came down to it, but still...

 

[RebateMonger]

I haven't seen any information on this. Maybe some of the MS folks here can comment.

I've already SPECULATED here that MS will offer a Vista-to-W7 Upgrade Edition for $50 to $100. And I'd be shocked it you couldn't do an Upgrade from Vista without reformatting everything. But that's only guessing on my part.

With so little time since Vista's deployment (the AVERAGE PC with Vista will be less than two years old by the time W7 is released), I don't believe customers will be very pleased if they have to re-buy Windows (especially those who paid $200 to $400 for Vista Ultimate). And they won't want to re-format, either.

 

[Nothinman]

The differences between Windows XP 32-bit and Vista 64-bit were so great that it made it impossible to do a real upgrade.

MS just doesn't support a 32-bit->64-bit upgrade, you should've been able to upgrade to Vista 32-bit.

 

[nerp]

I'd like to see an upgrade version, but I'd be more inclined to buy an OEM version for a fresh install. Now, if you can still do the clean install "upgrade" trick with a Windows 7 upgrade version, that would be pretty cool. But I have a hunch that that option might not exist, but I really don't know with any certianty.

 

[13Gigatons]

Yes.